The Storm
by Xymena Falling
Summary: When SPR accepts a case at a house that belongs in a gothic horror story they don't foresee Naru and Mai getting separated from the group. Left alone on the island with no equipment and only their wits as defense against the murderous spirits, the duo soon realise that they may be out of their depth... MaixNaru
1. The Storm

The Storm

To say that it was raining would be an understatement.

It was more like the heavens had opened and were chucking small oceans on the land below. Mai tugged on her raincoat hood as the wind threatened to rip it off.

"What is it?" She yelled to a scowling Naru as he approached.

"The others can't join us."

"What?"

"In this weather, you'd be mad to go on a boat trip."

Mai stared dismally at the heavy, grey waves. To go on a boat and not expect it to capsize was idiotic. And to chuck in a load of expensive, electrical equipment, was pure suicide. For the equipment, that is.

"So we can't go back either."

He shook his head. "We're trapped."

Mai groaned. They should have expected something like this to happen…

"What do we do?"

"Find somewhere to stay. Sleeping in a haunted house with just the two of us is stupid. Come on."

Mai groaned. She hadn't even wanted to go on the stupid, small boat in the first place. At least not with Naru.

The haunted house happened to be on a small island. And the only way to get to that island was by boat. And the boat just happened to be only able to fit two passengers plus some luggage. And it had just so happened that a storm had blown in very suddenly. And now the two of them were stranded. She groaned. If only she hadn't been press ganged into going with Naru, she'd be somewhere warm and dry. She scowled darkly, and then more darkly still when a particularly strong gust of wind threatened to knock her over.

"Where will we stay?"

"There isn't an inn here, the island's too small. We'll have to see if someone'll take us in."

"You're joking."

"I don't joke, Mai."

"Sometimes I wish you did." She mumbled, knowing he wouldn't be able to hear her through the howling wind and pounding rain.

* * *

"What if no-one lets us in?" Mai asked worriedly. Alright, it wasn't some people's fault that they didn't even have one spare room, let alone two, but the ones who slammed the door in their faces were plain rude. Mai could understand why people might be hesitant to let two complete teenage strangers sleep in their house for the night, but they didn't have to be nasty about it.

"The woman from two houses along said to try this one." Naru said simply, ringing the doorbell. They waited for a few moments, then the door opened. A tiny middle aged woman peered at them through the wall of rain.

"Hi, we've been stranded here and we have nowhere to stay. The storm means we can't get back to mainland. So we were wondering if you could put us up for the night?" Mai asked quickly, too cold and wet to be more polite. There wasn't a dry patch on their bodies, despite having been in the rain a grand total of an hour.

"Oh of course! Come in, come in."She ushered them into the small living room, where Mai and Naru breathed a sigh of relief at the fantastically warm air. They stripped off their dripping coats.

"Thank you!" Mai said gratefully. She and Naru bowed.

"I'm Taniyama Mai, and this is Shibuya Kazuya. You'll have to excuse him, he's not very talkative."

"Through here. My name is Isobe Kamiko. Why don't I get you some tea? Just sit here." She gestured to a table with stools surrounding it.

"Yes please."

The woman disappeared.

"So what next?" Mai asked Naru, who was sitting silently, as ever.

"I need to contact Lin."

"He won't be able to follow us."

"I know."

_Of course he does,_ Mai thought to herself. "But then what will we do about the case?" She said out loud.

"We will investigate the house. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow so Lin and the others will join us."

"Er, with no equipment?"

"Unless you think I can magic some up from somewhere?" He said in a hard voice. Mai frowned. Apparently he was as unhappy with this turn of events as she was.

"Here you go." Kamiko appeared with two steaming mugs.

"I must point out that if you want to stay the night, I have only one spare bed." She said, looking at them over her own cup. Mai and Naru glanced at each other.

* * *

"This is his room." Kamiko opened the door. "It's clean and dry."

Naru and Mai peered in. It was rather plain. There was a bed in the corner, some empty bookshelves along the walls and a desk. There was a small wardrobe on the other side with a picture frame on it, and a bedside table. But there was no decoration.

"Thank you very much." Mai said again, wandering into the room.

"I think I have an old mattress somewhere. I'm guessing it's not common practice for work colleagues to sleep together, so if you would be more comfortable sleeping separately I can get it."

"Yes thank you. Another mattress would be good." Mai gushed, blushing madly. The thought of her and Naru in that single bed… It was not a train of thought she wanted to pursue.

Kamiko smiled and nodded.

Half an hour later the other mattress was in the room and sheeted.

"You can have the bed." Naru said, watching the mattress warily. He had helped get it down from the loft and it was hard as a rock. And he was sure there must be something living in it. The attic looked like it hadn't been disturbed for half a century.

"Ok. Thank you." Mai plopped down onto the covers. "Well I've already gotten wet enough for one day, so I think I'll wash myself tomorrow."

"I always wash in the mornings." Naru said, still inspecting the mattress. Mai stood up, dragged her suitcase to the bottom of the bed and opened it, rummaging around for her pyjamas. She became aware of Naru watching her and turned around slowly.

"What are you looking at?" She demanded, checking her suitcase to make sure nothing embarrassing was on view.

"You," Naru said flatly.

"Well could you not?"

Naru didn't say anything, but his gaze swept round the room. Quickly Mai pulled out the pyjamas; she didn't want him inspecting the contents of her luggage. Or even worse, passing judgement in his head. If she had known this was going to happen she would have made more of an effort with packing, rather than just tossing stuff in.

"Er, would you mind?" She asked pointedly, gesturing to the door.

"No." Naru raised an eyebrow, but left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Mai fumbled with her clothes, trying to get them off as quickly as possible so of course she suddenly lost the ability to change. She pulled on her pyjamas and dived under the covers, pulling them up to her chin.

"You can come back in now." She called. The door opened and he entered. He smirked when he saw her wide eyes peering over the duvet.

"Are you going to cower under that while I get changed, or will you leave?"

Mai blushed and scampered out of bed, practically running to the door.

"I'll just.. go and brush my teeth!" She squeaked. In the bathroom she stared at her red face in the mirror. Why why why did she have to blush all the time like some overexcited school girl? She was supposed to be cool and collected, mature even, and she most definitely was not supposed to be acting like she still liked him! That was water long under the bridge. She frowned at her reflection.

Plus she had managed to pick her least attractive pyjamas.

She groaned. She really must stop thinking these things. Sighing she tied her hair up and put her face under the cold tap.

"What are you doing?" A cool voice questioned.

"Just washing my face." Mai said in as cool a voice as she could manage. Naru gave her a fleeting look of suspicion.

5 minutes later and they were back in their room. Mai practically jumped into the bed.

"It's not that exciting Mai."

She pouted."Just turn off the light, will you."

He smirked, but flicked the light switch, leaving them in pitch black darkness until their eyes adjusted. Mai heard the soft thump of Naru lying down, the rustle of the blanket as he pulled it over himself. There was silence for what seemed like an age, the only sounds were the howl of the wind and the pounding of the rain.

"Goodnight Naru." Mai whispered, unsure if he was still awake, and certain he wouldn't be able to hear her even if he was.

"Goodnight Mai." He said back, making Mai's heart stop in fright for a moment, before she relaxed and smiled to herself.

* * *

Naru awoke to the never ending sound of rain. He opened his eyes sleepily and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling. It took him a brief moment to remember the day before. He remembered where he was and sat up slowly. His watch said half six. He looked to the bed. Mai was still sleeping peacefully, her hair fanned across her face.

He lay back down, determined to get an extra hour of sleep, or at least a nap, but found himself looking at Mai. He watched her breath gently move her hair. He briefly wondered even if this was some sort of hint from nature, before remembering that he didn't believe in destiny, fate and such nonsense. Well, it was clear he wasn't going to get much sleep while she was asleep mere metres from him, so may as well do something productive.

When Mai woke up Naru was sat on his bed, back against the wall, studiously reading.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Mai instantly reddened and then buried her head underneath the covers.

So they had shared a room. Mai wasn't sure to crow with delight or die from embarrassment.

"It's a bit early for you to be awake, isn't it?" She asked, somewhat muffled.

Naru lowered his book as she peeked her eyes over the edge of the duvet.

"It's only eight in the morning."

"_Only_ eight? How long have you been up?" Her eyes widened.

"Half six."

"Half six?" She exclaimed, her eyes widening to breaking point.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, but why?"

"I woke up naturally."

"So you've been sitting there watching me sleep for an hour and a half?"

He wrinkled his nose. Yes. And reading. "I wasn't watching you, don't flatter yourself."

"Sure…" Mai grumbled, secretly hoping that she hadn't done anything embarrassing like drooled or talked in her sleep. But if she had, he would have mentioned by now, wouldn't he? At least, Mai hoped so.

Her musings were broken by a timid knock on the door. Naru closed his book and went up to open the door.

"Good morning. Are you both awake?" Kamiko asked.

"Yes." Naru replied simply.

"You know where the bathroom is, I'll make breakfast downstairs."

"Thank you." Mai said from the bed.

Kamiko smiled and nodded. A few moments later Mai heard her go down the stairs.

Naru turned to her. "Do you want to have a shower first, or should I?"

* * *

"It's so nice to have young people around the house again." Kamiko sighed at breakfast. "I'm afraid that it's still raining outside."

"Will it have stopped later today?" Mai asked hopefully.

"I don't know."Kamiko said honestly. "Sometimes the rain doesn't last long. Sometimes it lasts for days. This storm looks quite bad. You may have to stay here a while longer." Seeing Mai's worried look, she added, "It's alright, you can stay here. I like company."

"Thank you." Mai said gratefully.

"So what are you doing on this island?"

Mai and Naru exchanged a glance.

Naru spoke first. "We're investigating the old house by the edge of the island."

"The haunted one?"

"Yes."

"Whatever for? There's nothing in it."

"It's to do with our work." Naru said, not very helpfully.

"Are you surveying the land?"

"No, we're ghost hunters." Mai explained. Naru shook his head imperceptibly.

"I've never heard of such a thing." Kamiko frowned.

"It's not a common job, especially considering many people don't believe in spirits and suchlike, especially in urban areas."

"Right…" They could see that Kamiko didn't quite believe them.

"So what's the best way to get to the house?"

* * *

Mai gazed up at the house. It was old. At least, it looked old, and partly overgrown. More like something from a horror film than real life. Naru tugged out a key from somewhere and unlocked the door. Mai shivered in the rain. The weather had still not cleared up, or even abated slightly. They were still stranded, without the others.

"I would say ladies first, but you don't fall into that category."

"Jerk." She huffed, stepping over the threshold behind him. "At least I'm not the first one into a spooky haunted building!"

Naru took off his hood, shaking his damp hair slightly. "At least the roof's fine." He said, switching on a torch and shining it upwards. Mai could swear she swore something move, just out of the way of the beam.

"It's really spooky in here." Mai said, feeling the need to whisper. It felt like they were disturbing something… Like in those films set in ancient temples. Except she doubted that the rickety stairs could cope with a massive boulder rolling down it.

"It's a haunted, abandoned house Mai. It's practically meant to be spooky." He snorted.

"I know, but it still gives me the creeps."

"You get spooked out far too easily. Come on."

"Wait… we're going further in?" Mai asked, giving a longing look towards the door.

"Of course."

Naru walked forwards, towards a doorway, and Mai crept after him, keeping close. He could barely believe that she was still that scared after all this time. She was practically 18! She bumped into him when he stopped.

"…Naru?"

"No need to whisper."

"Sorry." She whispered. Then, "Why did you stop?"

"No reason."

He swung the beam around the room. Spiders scuttled out of its bright light, obviously upset at the intrusion.

"Spiders." Mai whispered with a note of despair in her voice.

"Only to be expected."

"I hate spiders."

"They don't eat people."

"I know. But they look so creepy. With their legs and eyes and urgh." She shivered. Naru wondered briefly if she enjoyed being frightened.

"And you don't get poisonous ones in this country. Or ones larger than your hand. You've got nothing to fear."

"They still creep me out. Eurgh." She gave the door another wistful look. The dust was so heavy; she could see their footprints in it, from the door to where they were standing. Her eyes widened.

"Naru, look." He turned.

"What?"

"Look, over there. In the dust." She pointed.

He swung the torch over to where she was pointing. It was clearly highlighted in the bright light.

Another pair of footprints in the dust.

Mai looked up, and for a brief moment, she swore that she could see a figure watching them.

* * *

**New story! Very exciting! Don't worry, we will try to update the others too, though we have been rather slow recently. Too many responsibilities :/ though mainly my fault, I have to apologise. A-levels are not so fun come exam time :( and ladies, guys are not worth it! They just give you stress! **

**Sincerely,  
**

**O  
**


	2. The Deaths

The Deaths

"Naru…" Mai whispered.

"What?" He asked, swinging round to face her.

"I saw someone."

"Where." It wasn't a question, it was a cold command, and Mai obligingly pointed to the top of the stairs.

"There's nothing there now. Come on." He made his way across the entrance hall to the stairs.

"We're going upstairs?" Mai asked.

"That's where you saw the figure."

Mai followed him nervously, avoiding the extra set of footsteps. The silence of the house was eerie, and Mai looked around with wide eyes, taking in every detail. She gasped when the stair underneath her foot creaked slightly. Naru turned back to give her a weird look.

Upstairs, the house looked almost claustrophobic, a labyrinth of dark rooms with a long, winding corridor. When the house was new, and un-haunted, it must have cost quite a bit, judging from the size of the house alone. It was the biggest – and most imposing – house on the island, like all the other houses were too scared to match it.

Mai peered into a random room. It, surprisingly, still had furniture – an old western bed and mirror. Both were caked in dust, their ornateness only making them look older.

Behind her, Naru also looked in. A quick sweep of the torch showed nothing surprising or scary, except for a small group of spiders living in one of the upper corners. Mai shuddered and they silently moved on.

Mai's ears pricked at a small sound. It sounded like it was from the other end of the house, she could barely hear it.

"… Naru?" Her fingers brushed his arm.

"Hmm?"

"Can you hear that?" She whispered. He was silent, expression concentrated.

"No." He said after a few seconds. "What is it?"

"I don't know, I can barely hear it."

"Where's it coming from?"

"I'm not sure. Far off… Maybe downstairs?"

They made their way back to the top of the stairs, pausing on the landing. It was clearer now, both of them could hear it.

"Someone's crying…"Mai muttered.

Naru frowned, but didn't say anything as he made his way downstairs.

They followed the sound across the hallway, crossing their footprints once again. Mai stepped in something wet and looked down.

Yet another set of footprints, but these were wet – as if someone had been walking with wet feet. There were occasional droplets by the footprints, like the person's hair had been wet too, or maybe just crying a lot.

She looked at Naru, to mention it, but from the look on his face she could tell that he'd already noticed. Deciding that there was a reasonable chance that the spirit with wet feet was also the one crying, they followed the footprints deeper into the house.

Naru paused outside a room, it seemed like the crying was originating from there. The footprints continued on, into the room. Mai watched Naru with saucer-like eyes, feeling an urge to grip onto the back of his jacket.

They entered the room cautiously and slowly. The crying got louder, more hysterical as they approached. Mai blanched.

Was it just her, or could she just see a figure, hunched in the corner of the room…? Naru had his eyes on it, too, so she couldn't just be imagining it.

The figure – it was a woman, Mai thought – sniffed loudly and turned slightly towards them, as if aware of their presence.

Suddenly the figure let out a long wail and flew past them, completely ignoring them, running around a corner and out of view. They both stared at the space where she had just been, then Mai rubbed her hand absentmindedly.

"She got water on me…"

Naru looked at her hand.

"What?"

"When she passed I felt some water droplets land on my hand…"

Naru frowned. Then thought of something.

"You're scared of spiders… but not of a ghost?"

Mai blushed and looked at her feet.

"Well, she was crying… I kind of felt sorry for her…"

Naru rolled his eyes.

Suddenly Mai felt herself being thrown backwards. Her back hit the wall hard and she slid to the floor, gasping for breath.

"Mai!"

"I'm… okay…" She took deep, wheezing breaths. Her back was probably going to have a large bruise by tomorrow.

He observed her critically, before offering her a hand. She took it gratefully, feeling a blush arise as their skin touched.

"Let's get out of here."

She brushed down her clothes, momentarily distracted. "What?"

"Let's call it a day." He headed towards the front door.

* * *

When Naru had said, 'let's call it a day' Mai had presumed that this meant that they would go back to Kamiko's house.

Oh no.

'Let's call it a day' meant wandering around the island in the pouring rain and asking the villagers (well, technically, hamlet-ers) if they knew anything about the house.

An old lady peered at them from over her glasses.

"You must be those two who Kamiko let in." She crooned. "What are you doing here?"

"We were wondering if you knew anything about the old house at the edge of the island?" Mai asked.

"_That_ place?" The old woman wrinkled her already wrinkled nose. "Horrid place, they should tear it down. Yes! Tear it down completely, burn it to the ground."

Naru and Mai exchanged a glance. It seemed that most people harboured a hatred for the rundown building.

"Why is it horrid?" Naru asked carefully.

"Don't go there. You should keep away. You weren't thinking about going inside, were you?"

"Well, maybe if you actually told us something-" Naru muttered under his breath.

Mai promptly elbowed him in the ribs. She beamed at the old woman (who hadn't heard Naru).

"Why shouldn't we go there?" Mai asked sweetly.

"Horrible place… Too many people have died."

Naru and Mai shared another look, this one more grave than the first.

"Who's died there?" Naru asked.

"What are you doing in the rain?" The woman exclaimed, horrified. "Come in, come in, I'll fetch you some tea." She beckoned, and they followed her.

"Now, what were we talking about?" The old woman asked once they were all sitting and drinking tea.

"The house."

"Which one?"

"The rundown one at the edge of the island."

"Oh, _that_ one!" She cried gleefully. "Nasty place."

Naru's expression was blank, but Mai knew that his patience was running out quite quickly.

"You said that some people died there. Can you tell us anything more?" Mai asked, hoping that the woman told them something.

"Oh, yes. Help yourself to more tea. What deaths do you want to know about?"

"All of them." Naru said bluntly.

She clucked her tongue. "Patience, young man, will get you everywhere. Except for _some places_." She waggled her eyebrows at Naru, who looked unimpressed at the piece of not-very-helpful advice and quickly took another sip of tea.

The old woman chuckled at her own genius (though which genius Mai and Naru didn't know) before taking a serious tone.

"There was the woman who hung herself."

"She hung herself?" Mai asked, looking faintly disgusted. Naru sent her a dark look.

"Quiet lass. Yes, she hung herself."

"Do you know why?"

"No, I was quite small then. She lived all alone in the big house, poor thing. Went nuts and killed herself. Shame. Then there was that boy – he was too young. Went in one evening and by morning his neck was broken." She shook her head miserably.

Although the woman's memory on the present was questionable, she seemed to remember her past relatively clearly, and by the time the teapot was drained, a couple of hours had passed and Naru and Mai had learnt enough about the house to safely conclude that it was dangerous.

Too many deaths were accidents – from the boy who fell down the stairs and broke his neck and the man who fell through the floor to the young woman who drowned in the bath when she fell asleep.

But there were murders too, the man who was stabbed and man who suffocated his children and then strangled his wife to the woman who was raped and then had her head smashed in.

And for good measure, suicides too – the woman who hung herself, and one who fell onto a kitchen knife.

Mai's face by this time was rather pale, while Naru appeared genuinely interested. He was leaning forward, chin resting in his hands.

"And you remember all of these?" He asked quietly when the old woman had finished.

"No, of course not!" She exclaimed. "How old do you think I am? Most of them happened before I was even born!"

Naru nodded, closing his eyes for a brief moment, his face completely blank of emotion.

Part of Mai vainly wished that her eyelashes were as long as his. It was so unfair – he was born with all the looks, and herself with hardly any.

"Oh, it appears there's no more tea." The old woman peered inside the pot.

"We should really be on our way now." Naru said, standing up.

"So soon? But you've been here barely any time at all!" She protested.

Mai followed Naru's lead, and stood up also. "Thank you for all your help." She bowed. "But I'm afraid it's getting late."

The old woman hobbled over to Mai. "Such a shame, such a shame…" Then she frowned. "What was it you wanted again?"

"It was nothing." Naru said evenly. "We'll be leaving now."

"Don't get colds from the rain!"

"We won't."

* * *

Naru was silent on the walk back to Kamiko's. Mai walked next to him, occasionally stealing looks.

"Well, that was odd." Mai said eventually, hoping for some kind of reaction from him. However, it didn't look like he'd even _heard_ her. "Well, that was odd." Mai repeated, much louder, hoping he hadn't heard because of the rain. Still no reaction though.

She sighed, looking steadily forward until they reached Kamiko's house.

Kamiko looked pleased to see them, and Mai felt a pang of guilt that they hadn't come back earlier.

"You're back! Are you hungry?" She asked as they hung up their wet coats and took off their shoes.

Mai realised with a jolt that neither she nor Naru had eaten since breakfast. However, she didn't have to answer as her stomach chose to rumble loudly at that precise moment. Mai blushed, but Kamiko smiled.

"I'll make dinner."

Mai smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

Kamiko left the room, and Mai turned to Naru. "Naru?"

His eyebrows twitched into a frown. "What?"

"Something's been bugging you since we left that house."

He looked at her, dark blue eyes taking in every detail. "The number of deaths didn't perturb you?"

She looked down at her hands for a brief moment. "Well, we both know it's haunted…" She mumbled.

"Even taking into account that quite a few of those deaths could have been made up and actual accidents, that's far too many for an island as small as this. There isn't even consistency with the method of death – you heard yourself the variation. And think about the spirit we saw earlier."

Mai thought back to her, the woman sobbing. She frowned.

"She practically ran away from us. It's unlikely that she's could do something such as rape a woman or stab someone."

Mai blinked at him. "So you're saying…"

"I'm saying that we're dealing with multiple ghosts, all with different motives."

* * *

**DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUN!**

**Not really. You probably figured it out from the summary.**

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	3. The Spirits

__The Spirits

_Mai woke with a start. She took a moment to remember where she was, wondering at the cold grass beneath her back. Then it hit her. The garden. She was waiting. _

_She turned her attention to what had woken her. Voices. They were low but she could hear, so they must be close._

"_The sunset is pretty tonight." A female voice said breathlessly. Mai felt her insides curl up with jealousy. That sounded suspiciously like Masako. She glared in the direction the voice was coming from, before realising that they were probably walking round the garden and she was out in the open. She quickly darted into some undergrowth. _

"_Indeed." Said a deeper voice. Mai's stomach flipped. Naru. She could feel blood rush to her face in anger and envy. _

_The pair came into her view through the leaves. Mai barely spared Masako a passing glance, before turning her attention on Naru. The golden light highlighted dark brown tints in his hair that she had never seen before, and lit his eyes so they were a clearer, deeper blue. She was so lost in his eyes that she had lost track of the conversation, but she couldn't miss what happened next._

_Masako stood on tiptoe and gently put her lips on his. _

'_No! No! Reject her like you always did!' Mai screamed at him in her head, her stomach clenching painfully._

_But Naru did no such thing. Mai spotted a look of surprise in those eyes before they closed and he gently kissed her back._

_Masako looked triumphant. Then, just for a millisecond, Mai saw her smile freeze._

"_What about Mai?" She asked, carefully._

"_What about Mai?"_

"_I thought that you, you- you know."_

"_I don't." Naru looked at her blankly. _

"_Had feelings for her…?"_

'_Say you do, oh please say you do..' Mai begged silently._

"_I never had feelings for her."_

"_Then you do you call her Mai and not Taniyama-san?" Masako asked quickly. Now Naru's face froze momentarily._

"_I see her more often than I do you." He said, not explaining what that meant._

"_Well that shall have to be remedied, no?" Masako smiled sweetly, moving back up onto her tiptoes and looking expectant. Mai saw his expression freeze for the most fleeting of moments before he looked down at Masako. He quickly kissed her on the lips, then put his forehead on hers._

"_It's late. Goodnight… Masako." _

_Masako smiled happily. "Goodnight, Naru." She walked off, practically skipping. Naru stood there for a moment, then glanced at the undergrowth she was in. She swore his eyes met hers and an anguished look came into his eyes before he returned to his normal, emotion-less self and walked slowly in the other direction._

_Mai collapsed onto the dry soil beneath her, feeling hot tears running down her cheeks and her innards writhing and twisting round. _

Mai's eyes flew open. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She could still feel her heart clenching.

"Help me."

It was a soft as a breeze. Mai froze, her heart beating even faster than before. Then she shook her head. There was no way she could have heard anything above the howling gale outside.

It was dark in the room. She cautiously felt over the table until her hand closed around a cuboidal shape. Her hand darted back under the covers. Quickly she unlocked her phone. The sudden bright light made her eyes water. 5:47 the digital screen read.

Mai groaned and put the phone back on the table, her other hand wiping her damp cheeks.

'_I know the light hurt my eyes, but surely they can't have watered that much?'_ She frowned. Her eyes felt sore and her throat dry. She frowned some more. Then realisation dawned. '_I was crying in my sleep?_'

She sat up and leaned her head against the wall. Her dream had unsettled her too much for her to get back to sleep anytime soon. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom she found them settling on Naru's shadowy outline.

Slowly her eyelids drooped.

* * *

"Mai, wake up." A cool voice said sharply. Mai blinked sleepily.

"Whaa…?"

"Since when did you decide to sleep sitting up? Most people lie down."

"…_Really?_ I'd never have guessed."

Naru gave her a blank look. "Mai, it's half eight. You over slept."

Mai groaned. "No, you just get up way too early."

"It's a working day."

"Every day is a working day with you." Mai grimaced.

"Just get up."

Mai followed his orders. Half an hour later a washed, dressed Mai and Naru went down the stairs to breakfast. Mai felt an expectant silence when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"What's going on?" She murmured to Naru, who just looked at her blankly.

Slowly she walked into the kitchen. Around the table were several elderly women. The silence hanging over them told Mai they'd been talking about at least her or Naru.

"Good morning!" Kamiko bustled over, handing Mai a steaming cup of tea and steering her to the table. She was sat down next to a gentle looking woman who smiled at her cheerfully. She heard Naru sit next to her. He was next to a hawk eyed woman who studied both of them with her mouth set in a straight line.

Kamiko introduced each of the old ladies, who smiled or nodded their heads, and then breakfast was served.

"You should let them serve themselves, they're young." The severe woman next to Naru said.

Kamiko smiled. "But they're my guests."

There was an awkward pause. The food was placed on the table and Mai gladly started eating.

"So, how long have you two been dating?" The woman next to Mai suddenly asked. Mai choked on her tea and started coughing, her face turning beetroot.

"We're not." Naru said coolly, watching Mai make a spectacle of herself over his cup. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her. Was she _that_ obvious?

The woman nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, you will be soon!" She said cheerfully, apparently not noticing Mai gasping for air.

Naru had nothing to say to this, so he returned to sipping his tea. The old women started talking amongst themselves, leaving Mai to recover. She was only faintly pink when the women returned their attention to the pair, but asked them about what they were doing on the island.

Half an hour later, when they had managed to remove themselves from the breakfast table, they set out.

"Why were you sleeping sitting up?"

Mai gulped. Should she tell him about the dream? Would that betray her feelings towards him? Anyway, she wasn't even sure it was important. It hadn't seemed like a psychic dream…

"I had a bad dream." Technically true.

Naru looked at her, his interest piqued.

"Not about the case, just about… Spiders." She shuddered. Naru gave her a look.

"So you decided to sit up?" He sounded unconvinced.

"Too make sure there weren't any on the bed?"

Naru studied her face for a couple of long seconds, but then dropped it and continued walking. That was when Mai realised they had stopped to face each other.

'_Mai, you're being so obvious! Cool and collected, remember?_' She chided herself, before running – no – walking briskly to catch up.

"So what are we doing today?"

"Going through the house. Seeing as you're the closest we have to a medium, you're going to go into every room and tell me what you feel."

Mai frowned. She knew that she was nowhere near as talented as Masako. She just occasionally got these hunches, and of course Gene's help. Which reminded her, where was Gene? This was going to be a serious case, normally he popped up to warn her about the dangers she could be facing. And now would probably tell her to protect Naru from himself as well.

They had reached the house. Mai cursed the architect for building so many rooms which she would now have to go through.

Naru unlocked the front door and held it open for her. She stepped into the gloom, unsure about how to begin her task. Naru shut the door behind them.

"Do you think they have electricity?" Mai asked.

"I doubt it."

"They must have had some form of lighting?" Mai pleaded.

"Maybe." He searched in his jacket for a pen, than looked at Mai.

"I don't know how to start." She confessed miserably. '_Damn Masako for being a good medium. Now he's going to wish it was her here instead of me._'

"Close your eyes."

Mai did so.

"Now try to feel the room."

"Feel the room?" She opened her eyes and looked at him quizzically.

"Feel the atmosphere. That's what Gene said."

Mai stared at him, but he didn't seem emotional when mentioning his brother, so she shut her eyes and tried.

"It feels cold?" She opened her eyes at last to find Naru's dark ones watching her.

"Cold." He repeated.

"I can't feel anything!"

"We'll move on to the next room."

Sagging in defeat Mai could only follow him from room to room, each time feeling nothing. They finished the ground floor with no results and no disturbances, so went upstairs.

As they climbed the stairs Mai felt the hairs on the back of her neck prick up.

"Naru, I feel like something's watching us." She said as they reached the landing.

"Is it the girl from yesterday?"

"I don't know."

She saw Naru carefully write something on his clipboard and then they moved on. Most of the rooms were bedrooms and attached dressing rooms, and most of the rooms were fine.

"Guest rooms?" Mai ventured.

"Probably." Naru gave a quick nod.

They had done most of the rooms on the first floor by now and Mai was starting to feel pretty useless. Most of the time she felt nothing at all. Though the possibility that there was nothing there to feel never occurred to her, she just assumed it was because she didn't have any talents in this area.

She sighed and opened her eyes. She shook her head.

"Next room."

They walked down the corridor, Mai wondering why they even bothered any more. Naru opened the door for her.

She stepped into the room. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Naru it's freezing in here!"

Naru looked surprised as Mai started shivering.

"Ar-r-ren't you-u c-c-c-cold?" She asked through chattering teeth.

"No. The temperature in here is the same as the rest of the house."

_Help me._

"Hello?" Mai called out.

"Mai, there's only us here. Come on." He held out the door for her.

"Shush, I definitely heard something."

_Help…_

"There it was again." She dashed out the door and down the corridor, but was stopped in her tracks by an ominous groaning. Something soft trickled onto her shoulder. She looked at her once pristine top which was covered in streaks of fine grey dust. Slowly she looked up.

Dust was falling from the ceiling. She heard slow, dragging footsteps from above her.

"Mai!"

She snapped back to reality, as if out of a trance. Scared now she took a few steps down the corridor, away from the trickling. All of a sudden there was a louder groan, then cracking and then slowly the ceiling started to sag. Her eyes found Naru's, he was further up the corridor and there was no way she'd make it to him before it gave way.

The crash surprised her, she jumped back, landing unsteadily on her toes.

'_Why is there nothing under my heels?_' She mused. Time seemed to slow down as she realised she had reached the top of the stairs and she was falling, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Her eyes widened in panic and her foot slipped.

* * *

Mai groaned. She didn't feel too good. Actually she didn't feel good at all. Her whole body ached.

She looked around her. Her left foot was resting on the last step of a flight of stairs. Why was she at the bottom of stairs?

Oh.

She jumped up, only to gasp out in pain.

"Oww. Ankle. Really. Hurts." She muttered under her breath. Then she registered something. A certain narcissistic, workaholic boss of hers wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"NARU!"

Naru heard his voice being called out. He let out a sigh of relief. At least that meant she was ok.

"Mai!" He called back, letting her know he was ok too. He was slowly testing his way up the corridor, hoping that wasn't going to give way too. He reminded himself to add an engineer to his team to check buildings' structural safety.

Something fell from the room above and landed with a dull thud. Naru flinched, but it was just a mouse or rat or some vermin. He glanced up at the corridor ahead, assessing how much time it would take him to reach the stairs at this rate. Prognosis was not good. He may as well take the risk and save time.

Suddenly the corridor spun around him. Naru put his cool hand on his forehead, what he was seeing made him feel sick.

As suddenly as it started it stopped. Naru frowned. He hadn't moved, but the corridor was facing the wrong way.

He stopped himself from smirking slightly. He was more than a match for those kind of games.

He set off in the direction he was facing.

Before he could take more than a few steps he was knocked off his feet and slammed against a wall. He could feel weight on his chest pinning him there, crushing the air from out of his lungs. He stretched his feet to try and reach the floor. He felt the pressure on his chest increasing as black spots began to creep around the edge of his vision.

He was thrown sideways as the pressure was removed with some force. He crouched on the floor getting his breath back for a moment, wondering whether to try to get to Mai and get them both out though the spirits might follow him.

Though he was being left alone now. His heart stopped in panic for a moment.

Unless that meant they had already left him for Mai.

* * *

**I stole the 'How long have you two been dating? Oh, don't worry, you soon will be' line(s?) from Suits. *Wants series 2 to come to the UK***

**Quick update, definitely won't be updating this quickly for the next chapter, but the last one didn't have so much happening in it, so hopefully this one is more exciting :)**

**Please review!**


	4. The Possession

The Possession 

Mai's eyes fluttered open, but she groaned and closed them quickly. She had a splitting head ache. She lay still for a moment, trying to get her bearings.

The backs of her legs were pressed against something hard and cold, but her upper body was on something soft. Her back arched uncomfortably, and her left hand rested against the cold. She frowned. She pushed up on her arm and, grimacing opened her eyes.

It was dark, but she could see a dark form lying next to her. Her eyes flew open wider. _Naru!_ She strained to see in the dark. She had been lying over his ribs, which is what caused the arching. Her left hand was on the floor near his thigh while the other rested on his chest. Even more embarrassing – his hand was resting on her hip! Her face flamed and she wriggled away from him.

She bit her lip. She was cold. No, she was freezing. She shivered as her eyes tried to penetrate the gloom surrounding them.

She let out a small gasp when she realised where they were. The old house's damp darkness seemed suddenly oppressive and sinister, so she wriggled her way back to Naru.

"Wake up!" She whispered, gently shaking his shoulders.

"What is it?" He asked groggily, raising one hand to his forehead.

"We're still here!"

"What?"

"We're in the house!" She whisper shouted. Naru sat up, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Let's get out?" Mai pleaded. Naru stood up swiftly. His wince seemed incredibly loud in the silence of the mansion.

"Are you ok?" Mai asked. She could practically feel the look Naru was sending her.

"Fine." He said a little too quickly. "Get up."

Mai jumped to her feet. Her gasp echoed.

"Mai?"

"Nothing, just my foot. It really hurts. Ah." She balanced on one foot and felt her ankle. "It's just a bit swollen."

Naru raised an eyebrow, not that she could see really. It always had to be Mai.

Her eyes widened in surprise when his arm snaked around her back. She blushed. _Naru is actually touching me. Naru is voluntarily touching me. _She fought to keep her face a normal colour._ Cool and collected Mai! You have to show him that you are not at all fazed._

"Mai, move your arm. Or do you want to stay here?" Chagrined Mai put her arm around his shoulders._ Jeez, he could try to be patient. Some of us are trying to calm down here._

They slowly made their way to the door. Naru wrenched it open and they moved onto the porch. Mai's jaw dropped open. She hadn't realised it was possible for it to rain any more than it had before. How wrong she was.

* * *

The door opened quickly.

"Oh there you are, I was starting to get worried!" Kamiko ushered the pair in. Mai immediately flopped onto a seat.

"What happened? I was getting worried about you two." She immediately rushed to survey Mai.

"We don't know." Naru said gloomily, only pausing to give Kamiko a grateful nod.

Kamiko hesitated, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" Mai frowned, not sure how to explain. "We can't remember."

"How can you not remember?"

"We just woke up on the floor of one of rooms."

"So you fell asleep?"

"We were at different ends of the house before that."

Kamiko paused. "So what happened?"

"We were probably possessed." Mai piped up.

"The only other explanation is that at some point we were hit on the head and somehow lost our previous memories. But we have no evidence of that. Other than that, something really traumatic may have happened." Naru said. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to change."

Mai stood up after him. "Me too."

"Should I call the doctor to look at your ankle?" Kamiko asked gently.

"Yes please. Thank you." She smiled broadly and hobbled up to the bathroom. Once inside she surveyed her appearance in the mirror. A sigh escaped her lips. _No wonder Kamiko looked shocked when she saw us._

Her hair was stuck to her head making her look like some odd doll, especially as her skin had turned practically grey from cold. She had small black lines beneath her eyes where her mascara had touched her wet skin. Both her clothes and her skin were covered in dark streaks where the rain had run dust and dirt off her.

Other than looking filthy, she was also covered in scratches and grazes. She shouldn't have been surprised really, Naru looked similar.

That's when she spotted him in the mirror, smirking at her.

"And you said I was the narcissistic one who looks in the mirror all the time."

"Just checking my appearance. It's not looking too great at the moment." She gave the mirror a dirty look, as though this was all its fault.

_You always look beautiful_ he thought. He wanted to say so, but couldn't bring himself. Even though it was obvious she was still attracted to him he was somehow scared that she would reject him like he'd unwittingly rejected her. Though this probably wasn't the best moment anyway, what with the dirt, water and wounds she'd probably think he was taking the piss.

Mai regarded his expressionless face and shrugged. She was starting to think that even if she knew him for a hundred years she still wouldn't know what he was thinking.

"I'm gonna have a shower, so if you wouldn't mind tearing _yourself_ away from the mirror." Mai gave him a pointed look.

Naru just raised an eyebrow slightly, then turned and walked out, leaving Mai alone with her thoughts and steaming water.

* * *

"It appears you've twisted your ankle, Taniyama-san." The doctor was a greying man in his 50s, who ran a small sort of clinic on the island in case anyone was in need to medical help and couldn't get it from the mainland for whatever reason – like now.

"Oh." Mai said glumly.

"Give it a day of rest, and then it should be good as new." He smiled reassuringly.

"Will she be able to walk?" Naru asked.

"Well... I wouldn't recommend walking long distances. If it's allowed to rest it will heal quicker."

Mai could feel a slow smile spreading across her face. _A day off work!_ She thought gleefully. The smile quickly faded though when she caught Naru's eye. He didn't look too pleased.

"If you'd like, I can come and check on you tomorrow." The doctor suggested pleasantly.

"Thank you, that'd be very kind." Mai smiled.

"Then I'll take my leave." They all bowed and Kamiko escorted the doctor to the door.

"We need to get back to that house as soon as possible." Naru gazed down at Mai. She gulped. His jaw was tight, which meant he was angry.

"Uh, do you think that's such a good idea? I mean, we were possessed…"

"We need to know what happened."

Mai blanched. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"No."

"But Naru, you know you can't protect yourself."

"Never the less."

"Lin-san will kill you if he finds out. And what if something happens? We can't get help here, there's just the clinic. And even then how would I get you out of there if something happened? I couldn't leave you all alone while I went to get someone! Imagine how your parents would feel!" Mai's voice rose.

"Nothing will happen." His voice was calm, almost bordering on bored.

Mai's mouth opened to retort.

"And Mai, I never said you'd have to come."

"Don't be silly, you're not going alone!" She crossed her arms defiantly.

"Then we'll go tomorrow."

Mai paused. She had not expected him to give in so easily.

"O-ok. So we get tonight off?"

Naru gave her a look.

* * *

_There were tears in her eyes as she pleaded. "Please… Please… I swear I didn't tell anyone!" The tears finally spilled over, running down her cheeks, and she put her hand to her mouth in an attempt to stifle her sobs. _

"_I _know_ you did." He breathed dangerously, his face closed to hers. She looked up fleetingly, into his angry eyes, and whimpered. She knew that look all too well._

"_I didn't! I swear I didn't! I'm telling the truth, please believe me!"_

_He raised his hand and slapped her, hard. Her head flew to the side, her eyes watering even more._

"_You liar. You dirty little liar." He sneered cruelly. "If you didn't tell anyone how come they know?"_

"_I don't know how! I don't even know what they know!" She dropped to her knees in front of him, gripping onto his knees to hold her up. "Please… I didn't tell! I swear on my mother!"_

_He leered down at her. "You swear on your mother? On your own mother?"_

_She nodded, the tears running hard and fast._

_He leant down and gipped her hair and pulled. She cried out in pain._

"_You'd stoop that low? Disgrace your mother's memory!" _

"_Pl-"_

_He slapped her again. "Stop whimpering, dirt."_

_Her bottom lip quivered unpleasantly, but she did her best to stifle her sobs and comply with his order. _

"_I have to punish you. You not only went behind my back but you've brought shame to my name and revealed yourself as a liar."_

"_I'm not a liar!" The words blurted from her lips before she could contain them. _

"_You don't know when to stop."_

_He let go of her hair, only to go for her neck. She screamed, tried to run away but his strong arms blocked her feeble ones and she chocked against his encircling hands, cutting off her air and she couldn't breathe she was actually going to die-_

* * *

"Mai." She blearily opened her eyes. It was dark, certainly early in the morning, but she couldn't miss the figure of Naru hovering above her, his hands gently resting on her shoulders where they had been previously shaking her awake, but when he saw her opened eyes he quickly removed his hands.

"Naru?"

"You were making distressed noises in your sleep."

"Oh. Um, yes. Thank you. Sorry to wake you." She averted her eyes, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with their position.

"It was a nightmare."

"Yes."

"Psychic?"

"I think so."

"What happened?" He moved backwards, to allow her space to sit up.

"There was a man. He thought that she'd told someone something, but she said she hadn't. He hit her. And then he strangled her."

"Sorry, she?"

"Um, yeah. Maybe his wife…?"

"Right." He sighed, and got up off the foot of her bed.

"I'm sorry I woke you." She said quietly, despite having apologised earlier. He shrugged, climbing back into his own bed.

"It's not a big deal." He said tiredly.

She lay back down and curled underneath the covers, watching his back in the semi-darkness.


End file.
